How to Learn Mandarin Fast: A Quick Guide

How to Learn Mandarin Fast: A Quick Guide

At first glance, Mandarin seems to be a difficult language to learn, especially for an English-speaker.

The truth, however, is that learning Mandarin is not a monumental task. In fact, those who speak Mandarin as a second language will tell you that learning this language is not that different from learning French or Spanish.

As long as you have the patience and dedication, you’ll be able to communicate well in this language in no time. To help you in your endeavour, here are some pointers on how to learn mandarin fast.

1. Join a Mandarin class

Investing your time and money in an intensive language program can be a great help when learning Mandarin, or any language for that matter. It helps you create a solid foundation to work from. For the Chinese language, nailing the basics is very important. This includes learning the four tones (which many English speakers find difficult to distinguish) and mastering the Pinyin needed to pronounce the logographic characters. Fortunately, these and more are something that you will learn when you enrol in a Mandarin class.

2. Befriend non-English speakers who are learning Mandarin

It’s easier to learn something when you have a study partner. But if you’re going to choose one, ensure that it isn’t an English speaker like you. People learning Mandarin who aren’t native English speakers make great language partners for two reasons. First, they are students like you so it isn’t that embarrassing to make mistakes in front of them. Second, they can help you with learning mandarin effectively because with them, you’re less likely to fall back on English to communicate.

3. Watch or listen to anything Chinese

One way to learn Mandarin fast and have fun at the same time is to immerse yourself in Chinese pop culture. You can either watch a Chinese TV show or listen to Chinese songs. Not only does it help you with proper pronunciation, this strategy can also help you expand your vocabulary.

4. Practise in front of a mirror

Having the confidence to communicate in Mandarin is as important as learning proper pronunciation and building your Chinese vocabulary. Practising in front of a mirror and seeing how you speak Chinese words can help you do this. When you start being less conscious of your appearance when speaking, you can focus more on improving your Mandarin skills.

Make sure to follow the tips above so you can learn Mandarin quickly and efficiently.

Students' Video Testimonials

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I am so grateful for what the teachers had done. When I enrolled, I never had any knowledge about the Mandarin Language. As in, I had zero knowledge about it. But since my teacher at Yi Mandarin is really experienced and skilled (not to mention “very patient”), I learned how to speak it comfortably in no time.

I would rate this 3.5 Stars. Overall experience with Yi Mandarin was positive. I felt my Chinese has improved based on the teachings from the lecturer. An area where I see that needs improvement is the lecturer's ability to manage the pace of the course session better. There are several occasions where we felt some of the topics are so rushed due to nearing the end of the class session. I rather receive time spend on quality of learning versus rushing to get the chapter completed.

I attended the conversational mandarin 1 for 1 month and both my teacher and Yi Mandarin made it really enjoyable. The lessons were well planned with helpful materials. Our class were so participative we were always the last to leave. Thank you so much Yi Mandarin for the coffee, the atmosphere and the lessons. Work has been fun with me using my basic mandarin skills!